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September 11, 2006

Quick Notes

Filed under: Big East,Football,Recruiting — Chas @ 8:55 pm

Still homeless. New hotel lied about high speed internet. Struggles continue

ESPN Recruiting people like Pitt’s in-state recruiting.

I can’t seem to figure out why Bostick has not received more national attention as one of the best pocket passers in this class. Coach Dave Wannstedt might have his quarterback of the future here, and I believe Bostick should have been included in this year’s class of Elite 11 quarterbacks.

I feel he is a better quarterback prospect at this stage than 2006 Notre Dame signee Zach Frazer (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) was a year ago. Bostick is a better athlete, is a better ball handler and might have more upside down the road.

He has some of the “it” factor you hear coaches talk about when describing quarterbacks in terms of feel for the game, presence and, most important, accuracy. In Bostick, Pitt offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh is going to get every bit the competitive player Tyler Palko is without the risky decision making.

When did Palko’s competitive fire suddenly become a negative (Trevor Matich, the hideous color guy on the Friday night telecast, echoed the same thing)? I’m beginning to wonder if someone is whispering behind Palko’s back.

Penn State and Pittsburgh are dueling it out for the state’s best, with West Virginia making its presence felt early on, as well. However, Pittsburgh has done an excellent job thus far on offense, particularly filling needs in the offensive front.

The Panthers have three commits so far on offense, and all three — Bostick, OG Chris Jacobson (Pittsburgh/Keystone Oaks) and OT Dan Matha (Erie, Pa./McDowell) — rank among the state’s top 16 overall prospects.

H.B. Blades took home Big East Defensive Player of the Week Honors. Last week it was Sessions. Two in a row for Pitt. Kinder made the “Honor Roll.”

Even Kirk Herbstreit is starting to sing the praises of the Big East.

I’ve been very critical of the Big East, but I really think the improvement this year of Pitt and Rutgers, to go along with Louisville and West Virginia, gives this conference much more depth than what they had last year. There’s no question, the loss of Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College has had a negative impact on this conference. Look out for Rutgers this year…I think they’ll get to eight wins. They’re for real.

Now if only Syracuse could do something than run the back-up fullback against a goal line defense 4 times, maybe they’d get some love.





Regarding the media’s slant on Palko’s decision making… Most writers and commentators steal whatever was said the day/week/month/year before -there is very little original thought involved.

Palko’s rep is a case in point – if his decision making is so bad how is it that he’s thrown only 17 interceptions against 47 TDs in 29 games and 753 pass attempts. That’s an interception rate of .023%! In other words 98% of his passes are not intercepted. His career TD to inteception ratio is 2.5:1, again – excellent.

I didn’t realize his historical record was that good until I looked it up, but the body of work so far shows his decision making is superb.

If anything Palko gets a little too emotionally invested in the game,which as Chas says, is his competitive fire. But, I don’t remember anyone telling Dan Marino to calm down when he was a Panther or Dolphin.

Comment by Reed Kohberger 09.12.06 @ 7:17 am

Kirk Herbstreit may not “SUCK!” as much this year if the ESPN gameday crew visits Pittsburgh. It’s still early and he is still capable of being the one that “SUCKS!” but if he continues to speak this way I will have to change my post game chant.

Comment by Tony in Harrisburg 09.12.06 @ 7:40 am

Herbstreit does have a point about Rutgers, they were impressive last year, and even better so far this season – I think that will be one of the harder games on our schedule.

Comment by Reed Kohberger 09.12.06 @ 8:03 am

I wonder if Palko’s toss when he was about to get sacked had anything to do with the decision making comment. It brought back visions of Rod Rutherford.

Comment by B.B. 09.12.06 @ 8:43 am

Rutherford was awesome when he was at PITT. I wish he would have got a serious chance in the NFL.

Comment by Omar 09.12.06 @ 9:09 am

I think it is probably less of a whisper campaign behind Palko’s back, and more of the media latching onto things that Cavanaugh is saying regarding areas he is trying to target for Palko’s improvement. (see: link to pittsburghlive.com)

“He’s (Palko) got to be a positive influence on those young kids who will react to whatever his mentality is. If he looks frustrated or mad or upset about something, then they’re going to react that way. And he knows that, so I expect him to go out and stay focused and do his job and do it well.” — Matt Cavanaugh

I noticed that the color person for ESPN for the Pitt/Cincinatti game, commented more than once that Cavanaugh had Palko watchin films of some of the great quarterbacks, emphasizing the fact that players like Joe Montana “kept their cool” during adversity. Cavanaugh obviously felt that Palko was getting frustrated with the young players, and that frustration was potentially influencing the attitude of the team. I think Cavanaugh’s concerns are the seed of what the media is saying about Palko, and they have simply done their usual job of blowing it way out of proportion and beating the notion to death.

Comment by KeithS 09.12.06 @ 9:25 am

That is what the media does. It used to be sports reporting but now it is sports “journalism.”

The sports “Nazis”, who I affectionately call them at ESPN, are adept in creating storylines that are for the most part void of factual credibility. He** they had the Dolphins going to the SB becasue Culpepper was the second coming and was going to lead the fins into the promise land. Dud!

I am of the old school who looks to the play on the field as a barometer of a player’s worth.

Comment by Kenny 09.12.06 @ 10:20 am

Keith, that’s a good observation re: Plako + the media, and I think you’re correct.

Did anyone else notice the play right before our field goal, when Palko tried a draw (kind of sideways) basically for better field position for the kick? It was 7+ minutes left in the 4th quarter and we were up 23-15. When we passed up trying for the TD, it very much reminded me of “The Slide”. Didn’t like it, but it was obvious the coaches were in the conservative mode by then and wanted the ‘sure’ points.

Comment by Reed Kohberger 09.12.06 @ 10:40 am

Reed,
I watched that play over and over on the DVR and I think Cinci just blew that play up.

They brought everybody and had 3 guys on Palko before he could do anything.

Whatever happened, at least it wasn’t a quick kick, huh?

Comment by Chris 09.12.06 @ 10:45 am

“Awesome” is a strong word to describe Rutherford at Pitt. He was good, and I liked him. I especially enjoyed watching him plow over linebackers or safeties from time to time. But he did have the tendency to make ill-advised passed to try to avoid a sack. One in particular against ND late in a game a few years back sealed the W for ND. Pitt basically dominated that game in everything but the scoreboard, and that INT ended it.

Comment by B.B. 09.12.06 @ 11:16 am

Anyone know how PSUcks is still ranked, or more importantly why? That team will be at best after 6 games 3-3….they still have to play at Ohio, then have Michigan come to town….they will be a 7-5 team nothing more…….I can’t wait for the bandwagoneers to jump on board once we take care of Business against MSU this weekend…then we’re off to the races with a possible 10-2 record….go PITT!

Comment by Marco 09.12.06 @ 11:55 am

With regard to the media slant on Palko…It is just that, a “slant”. These guys pick up media reports and run with them. I felt that Zeise and Dokish were particularly rough on Palko in their preseason coverage(with one of them saying he needed to eliminate his “freshman mistakes”, which is code for “dumb mistakes”). I did similar research to Reed K’s, and came to a similar conclusion: Palko is the best player on this team, and will finish his carreer as one of the Top 5 QB’s in the history of the Pitt Program. You really can’t ask for a whole lot more than that. Considering he’s had to deal with top WR’s not playing out their string, and a coaching change, I’d say he has has done well. As for Kirk H: He’s still a DH…If he and his lap dog Tirico (thank goodness ESPN split them up) had it their way, the Mountain West would be a BCS league, not the BE!

Comment by Frank 09.12.06 @ 12:39 pm

Palko is certainly not the best player on the team. Revis is, by far, the best player we have had since Fitzgerald left for the NFL. Palko is very good, but that ball he threw up for grabs on Friday was one of the dumber plays a QB can make. He has definitely improved his deep ball since last season and his other throws seem to have more zip as well. It seems like he is becoming more confident in the offensive line’s ability to protect him. If we get the running game going this could be a great offense.

Comment by Omar 09.12.06 @ 2:00 pm

Yeah, at least it wasn’t a quick kick. PITT is in the favorable position to have three guys we could point to as being the ‘best player’. I’d have to put Blades in there also.

Most Valuable Player might be harder though, and after two games I’d have to say Kinder might be that so far.

I had this feeling before the season started that we’d be talking about Darrell Strong after each game. I’m not complaining, but I’d like to see more plays go to the TEs.

Also, this weekend we might see Dickerson and MacKenzie Matthews on the field. Matthews I’m particularly interested in as he might bring more speed to the pass rushes, but to give the guys credit where its due, Clemond and Fulmer have been playing well, and better that most expected I think. DW has stated that he’ll forgo the redshirt year for the young guys, but if he does he’s actually going to play them as contributing members. It’s working out so far, and I can’t help but think it will really pay dividends in 2007 and 2008 to get these kids valuable game experience.

We’ve got a good thing going this year, and the future looks especially bright.

Comment by Reed Kohberger 09.12.06 @ 7:56 pm

Speaking of recruiting – does anyone know which recruits will be taking their offical visits to PITT this weekend? Would be great to put up a win at home and impress these kids.

Comment by Reed Kohberger 09.12.06 @ 8:00 pm

Chas, hope everything is getting better with your home situation. Love the blog

Comment by RJ 09.12.06 @ 9:23 pm

Here’s another bit of “O” trivia:

Last year Palko was sacked once in every 11.5 pass attempts – this year it’s once in 43. The “O” line has to be given major credit for that so far. It seems like the QB isn’t running for his life on every drop back either. MSU has a big “D” line, but from what I’ve read they are somewhat slow.

On the other hand, MSU has rushed for 219 yds per game this season, so we’ll be tested more than in our first two game.

Plus, their cheerleaders might be better looking than ours.

link to msu.edu

Comment by Reed Kohberger 09.12.06 @ 9:29 pm

Pitt has more than 3 commits on offense – please check your databases.

Comment by Jeff 09.13.06 @ 7:29 am

Here’s a ‘take it or leave it’ bit of info…

“The Panthers have one main advantage heading into this game. The Spartans most likely will be looking ahead to their matchup with Notre Dame the following Saturday. Based on the results from the past six years, Michigan State has done just that. The last time MSU covered in the game prior to facing the Irish was back in 1999.

Go with Pittsburgh minus the points”

That’s from a college football website in the UK.

Comment by Reed Kohberger 09.13.06 @ 7:49 am

For more lead-up to Saturday’s game here’s a link to a Michigan State blog.

link to spartantailgate.com

Comment by Chris 09.13.06 @ 9:42 am

Wow…just found out about your home…sorry to hear about the fire…is there anything we in the PITT family can do to help….?

Comment by Marco 09.13.06 @ 10:05 am

Omar, Revis fumbled two punts on Friday night, how can you say he is playing the best FB on this team? At least Palko fumbled the ball during a tackle. I might go with Blades, but here is the rub: How do you know when he makes a bad play or misses an assignment, for the most part you dont’. I’m sure that he makes his share of mistakes. When a QB misses an open receiver, fumbles, or throws an INT everybody knows and sees it. Right now, Palko’s stats put him near the top of all College QB’s.

Comment by Frank 09.13.06 @ 12:19 pm

Omar, one other thing…Tyler Palko was an Elite 11 QB, who was also recruited as a Saftety by such Rinky-Dink schools as ND…When Revis can play corner and line up under center, then you’ll convince me that he is a better all around FB player than Palko.

Comment by Frank 09.13.06 @ 1:15 pm

And one last thing Omar…aren’t you the guy who spent most of last BB season blasting Krauser on the blog…I’m seeing a pattern here…

Comment by Frank 09.13.06 @ 1:21 pm

Frank you need to chill out. I never blasted Krauser on the blog, I simply pointed out some of the flaws in his game. Is mentioning that a player isn’t perfect unreasonable? Palko is an excellent player, but I believe Revis is the best player on the team. He was unbelievable in the UVA game, and not because of the interception. He is always in the right spot to make a play and rarely misses tackles. This is one of the benefits to watching the game live, you can see what some of the other players are doing. Palko played well in the opener and against Cinci. You can’t convince me that him throwing that ball up was a good play because it wasn’t. Palko is a great player and I’m glad he is in a PITT uniform. Same with Revis. Finally, Dixon wanted Revis to play basketball and was convinced he could get minutes on what was a top-10 team. I think he may be a better athlete than Palko.

Comment by Omar 09.13.06 @ 2:14 pm

It’s a good argument – and there probably is no one answer. But, if the player’s value at the next level is any indication, I think Revis wins the debate hands down. He might go in the first round next year if he keeps up his play. As good as Palko & Blades are (and they are very good) I don’t see them being in the upper three rounds of the NFL draft – size issues mostly.

BTW, I like reading Omar’s posts. It’s always good to have a contrarily slanted point of view sometimes, and it injects a bit of reality into the proceedings. Just as I like this Blog because Chas isn’t a cheer leading homer (just a dedicated & interested homer).

Comment by Reed Kohberger 09.13.06 @ 4:57 pm

Palko would have made an awesome safety – just think of him being allowed to let that aggression out in full speed hits.

Comment by Reed Kohberger 09.13.06 @ 4:59 pm

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